Year of the Pilgrimage with Ten Ten
In 2022 at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School, we are going on a special Journey – a Pilgrimage.
During the pandemic, the journeys we might have normally have made, whether that be to a holiday or pilgrimage destination, have been prevented; but nevertheless, our spiritual journey continues.
From January through to December 2022, from the comfort of our classrooms, we will be entering on a spiritual pilgrimage to become closer with God through Jesus.
Like all good journeys, this one starts with a map. Below you can see the map of our pilgrimage for the year:
What do we have to do on our pilgrimage?
In our year of the pilgrimage, we are asking every child to continue to carry out and demonstrate four key tasks:
Charity
Prayer
Penance
Solidarity
These four jobs will be threaded through our continual spiritual journey. We will work as a school to understand how these four simple tasks can bring is closer to God.
Lent
During the season of Lent, we have begun ‘Our pilgrimage to the Cross’. We are joining together on a journey to Good Friday where we join Jesus on the cross. Each week there will be a different stopping place on our journey, where we can pause, learn and reflect.
We will be learning more about our relationship with God too! We will learn that Jesus is the way to become closer to God. We trust in Jesus to help us prepare during Lent.
We wonder what we’re going to discover on our pilgrimage next?
Eastertide
Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday is such a foundational cornerstone of our faith that we don’t just celebrate it on Easter Sunday, but for 50 days called ‘Eastertide’. Eastertide is 50 days of rejoicing and celebration between Easter Sunday and Pentecost (when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples), during which time we say and sing lots of “Alleluias!” to celebrate that Jesus is risen! We rejoice in the hope, joy and peace that Jesus brings through His death and resurrection. In school we are exploring the overarching theme ‘We are an Easter people and “Alleluia is our song!”’
The children learned that ‘Alleluia’ means ‘Praise the Lord’ which we do and say to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Moreover, they learned that it’s a word that we fast from saying or singing during Lent, so that we can say and sing it with even greater gusto during Eastertide – because Jesus’ great victory over death at Easter is something great to shout about!
June 2022
During Eastertide, we explored the overarching theme ‘We are an Easter people and “Alleluia is our song!”’ With June comes the finale of Eastertide: Pentecost, when the disciples received Jesus’ promised gift of a helper, the Holy Spirit.
'Pente’ means ‘50’, and Pentecost marks the end of Eastertide - 50 days of celebration and rejoicing following Easter Sunday. Children learned that this was the day when Jesus’ disciples received the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had promised they would!
The children learned that the Holy Spirit does lots of different things! The Holy Spirit is…
- Our Helper– Helping us to know who God is and what He wants us to do. He guides and directs us. The Spirit inspires us to make good choices. (John 14: 15 - 18)
- An Intercessor– The Holy Spirit helps us to pray. The Spirit searches our hearts and lifts up prayers to God for us too. (Romans 8: 26 - 27)
- Our Teacher– The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Bible and reminds us of Jesus’ teachings. We can trust the Spirit because He says what God says. (John 14: 26)
- A Gift Giver– Like the new languages given to believers on the first Pentecost, the Spirit gives gifts to display what God can do and make others aware of Him. There are many gifts of the Spirit, such as wisdom, faith, and healing. (1 Corinthians 12: 1 - 11)
Father’s Day takes place each year in June, and this year it is on 19th June.
St Joseph, the foster-father to Jesus who shows us that there are many ways of being a father, we celebrate the good news that each of us has a loving Father in heaven! Jesus tells us that God the Father is faithful, dependable and loving at all times.
Our Pilgrimage to Rome
St Peter and St Paul were great guides and encouragers as the Christian church started to grow and the children will learn all about them and how they can still be our guides today through their teachings!
Year of Pilgrimage Song
You are the way to our Father above!
Jesus send Your Spirit, help our hearts to love.
You are alive! You’re our friend and our guide.
We can always trust in you as you’re here by our side!
